After 211 Years: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed an agreement to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which is linked with China, after 211 years.
After a London judge overruled a last-minute injunction and made room for an agreement the government claims is essential to safeguarding the country’s security, Britain signed a deal Thursday to hand over control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
The multibillion-dollar agreement will grant Britain a 99-year lease to maintain control of the strategically significant U.S.-UK air facility on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Indian Ocean group.
After a meticulously planned ceremony was delayed due to the High Court’s granting of an interim order to attorneys for a British person born in the Chagos Islands early on Thursday morning, the signing proceeded.
After a hearing, Judge Martin Chamberlain removed the injunction, stating that its continuation would “substantially prejudice Britain’s interests.”
The administration has long maintained that the agreement is necessary to ensure Diego Garcia’s future, despite criticism from opposition parties that it is pursuing an excessively expensive deal that would benefit China.
“The strategic location of this base is of the utmost significance to Britain, from deploying aircraft to defeat terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan to anticipating threats in the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific,” Keir Starmer, the prime minister, said at a news
“By agreeing to this deal now, on our terms, we’re securing strong protections, including from malign influence, that will allow the base to operate well into the next century.”
After Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam expressed worries about the agreement after then-Mauritian leader Pravind Jugnauth was ousted, months of bickering over the contract came to an end with the signing.
After U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, it was postponed even more because London wanted to allow the new administration time to review the plan’s specifics. Trump signaled his support for the agreement in February.
Ramgoolam praised the agreement, stating that it had taken a lot of effort to get this stage.
Ramgoolam stated in a live broadcast, “With this agreement, we are completing the total process of decolonisation,” using the regional Creole language.
“It’s total recognition of our sovereignty on the Chagos, including Diego Garcia.”
